Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

Synopsis

The game has evolved.

The tables are turned as four teenagers are sucked into Jumanji's world - pitted against rhinos, black mambas and an endless variety of jungle traps and puzzles. To survive, they'll play as characters from the game.

A semi-related sequel to a 1996 kids movie that exactly zero human beings have watched since the death of VHS, the mildly amusing “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” is further proof that even the stalest whiff of brand recognition has become preferable to originality. Only part of the blame for that belongs to the studios, but after cannibalizing themselves for much of the last 20 years, Hollywood has clearly eaten their way down to the crumbs.

That’s not to suggest the original “Jumanji” was such an unspeakably terrible thing — Joe Johnston has always known how to serve a fine bowl of popcorn entertainment — but rather to say that no one should ever have to write the words: “The…

This is way better than it should be. Some of the action is edited poorly, the villain is incredibly weak, and the humor doesn’t always land, but it mostly does (especially when it comes to the video game related jokes and the surprisingly accurate/comedic stereotypes). I’m surprised to say that I had a really fun time with Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.

The last thing on everyone’s mind was that the Jumanji sequel could be anything more than mediocre. To make things worse, using a movie that brings so much joy and good memories to everyone just for the sake of making some bucks for another big studio, didn’t seem the right move, at least for the audience!

However, destiny had other plans and surprised everyone with a movie that’s not only decent, it manages to be good. We obviously know which are its limitations and its purpose. It’s supposed to be a fun time for the viewer. However, that doesn’t mean it has to be a bad movie. And Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle it’s a great example of exactly that,…